To select any course between
M.Tech and MBA is one of the confusing selection engineering students faces in
their final year. They always think what course will take them higher in their
career in terms of position, money and job satisfaction.

First of all, the
point is that there is no comparison between the two courses. Both are
specialized degrees and have value in their respective fields. Both M.Tech and
MBA provide excellent career options and have gained importance in last few
years. M.Tech or MBA is always an additional advantage to an engineer whether
it is in terms of knowledge, experience or seniority. It depends on the
personal attributes of the student that should decide that which course he/she
should opt for. If one is interested in being at core technical side rather
than handling clients, project management and other managerial activities, then
M.Tech would be better choice while for those interested in the later should go
for an MBA.

Whether it is a
manufacturing, IT or R&D driven organization, there would be requirements
for both M.Techs and MBAs. The former would be more of a subject matter
specialist, while the latter would handle product marketing, sales, project
management, human resources, IT process, and consulting or customer service
management.

Choice is
entirely up to you

Ideally you are the one who can make the judgment in the most honest way
while selecting the appropriate course for yourself. No one can know your
skills, capabilities, interests and career goals better than you.

Ideally, you
should make the choice on the basis of your capabilities, career goals and
interests. If you want to continue your career in technical field, M.Tech is
the right choice for you. You can even switch to teaching or research. But if
you want to work in the industry, MBA is the way to go. MBA is a management
course that will enhance your managerial, communication and presentation
skills.

After MBA, you get
the entry to the field of business and administration where you can go in for
options like marketing, sales, human resources and operation management.

Specifically,
M.Tech is suitable for a product-based industry where technical skills are
required. MBA is more suitable for a service- and customer-oriented industry.
Engineering guys with MBA degree are for the jobs requiring people interactions
and managerial skills like project management, front-end sales, field
applications and many more. While, if some organization is innovation hungry
(mainly product development companies), pure engineering with master’s
specialization (M.Tech) is a better combination.

Starting off

To enroll for
M.Tech in a reputed institute like IISc Bangalore and IITs, you need to crack
GATE. (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering).
GATE is conducted by any of the IITs or IISc every year. Forms use to be
out in the month of September and exams use to conduct in the month of
February. You can have more details for GATE exam on any of the IIT website.
There are some other prestigious institutes like IIITs also who take their own
exams as well to get students for their M.Tech courses.

In case you plan
to pursue MBA, there are entrance exams like CAT, MAT, XAT and some others
which you need to clear.

Though it is
easier to continue M.Tech in the stream as you did your Engineering, you have
many options for doing M.Tech—electronics and controls engineering, VLSI design
communication systems, embedded systems technology, power electronics and
drives, digital communication and networking, remote sensing and GIS, information
technology, computer science and engineering, and biomedical and
instrumentation engineering to name a few. There are various interdisciplinary
courses as well in M.Tech which are open for more than one engineering stream
students.

When on the job,
you learn to put your theoretical knowledge into use, but to improve upon your
knowledge of design or research aspect; you need to go for the masters. It,
however, will be difficult to crack the entrance exam (GATE) while you are on
job. So it is recommended to qualify the GATE exam in the final year of study
and get a job thereafter, as GATE score is valid for two years.

MBA, on the other
hand, is preferable after you have gained some work experience.

Opportunities
coming your way

A postgraduate
qualification is becoming increasingly important for engineers. M.Tech is a
long-term investment in your technical career. It will secure your position in
the organization and also help you gain a higher position. Most government
organizations and research bodies ask for M.Techs or MEs as they consider these
people to be more resourceful than the normal B.Techs or BEs. Some
public-sector units even call M.Tech students for interview directly; M.Techs
need not give any written test.

If you want to
come out from the engineering cocoon and multitask, it makes sense to widen
your knowledge and skills in the management area. Having already obtained a
technical degree, an MBA will complete your skills in the wider areas of
management that usually include finance, marketing, human resource management,
organizational behavior and management strategy.

Doing an MBA is
also important because an engineer today is the primary manager of change
within the organization who implements new practices and technology.

An MBA will make
you the perfect candidate for the role of a group leader. As a group leader,
you will lead a small technical group and work under minimal supervision. You
will be required to provide guidance, set expectations, clarify
responsibilities, and provide feedback for project team members in
accomplishing tasks and goals.

You will
participate as a key contributor and assign work to meet group commitments. You
will contribute to the solution of complex technical problems, by providing
resources, removing barriers and ensuring application of common approaches. You
will demonstrate depth of knowledge of engineering discipline and leverages
expertise on projects.

Growing further to
the role of an assistant manager, manager and so on, you may eventually reach
the top management level!

2
comments:

Thank you a lot for sharing this with everyone. Hopefully, number of candidates would consider applying for it. Thumbs up for you. Job seekers looking out for engineering jobs can also checkout opportunities at Careerbuilder.Co.In